Welcome back to Meta Monday! With the introduction of Peni Parker and the most recent OTA changes making some slight adjustments, we have had some decent meta changes. However, there wasn’t as much time for the meta to fully adjust and with the introduction of Doom 2099 tomorrow the meta game will rapidly change. It probably won't be until late this week that the meta game fully settles from the OTA and new card releases. Regardless, let's go over the decks that are running around in the current meta game.
Wiccan
Ever since Wiccan's release players have been building decks around him and the more options we get that help enable Wiccan like Kate Bishop and Peni Parker the more we see Wiccan decks. Also, because his condition is easier it's easy to customize his shell to fit whatever style of play that you want. There are 2 main deck-building shells here that either use Quicksilver and a handful of 2-cost cards to enable Wiccan or run a deck with at least 3 1-cost cards and some of the 2-cost card generators like Kate and Peni. Either idea is viable and produces several Wiccan midrange-type decks prolific at all rankings.
Wiccan 1
Wiccan 2
Wiccan 3
While these decks try to leverage early pressure and the extra energy from Wiccan in the late game to out-power the opponent they typically lack a good tech option. Even if they do run a tech option like Shadow King or Red Guardian a good amount of the time they have to play them out on curve to keep the Wiccan option alive. This makes these decks vulnerable to strategies like Negative, Bounce, and even Surtur which out-power these decks.
Arishem
Only a short amount of time has passed between the OTA which nerfed Arishem so the fact that he is still a part of the meta game although a lot less popular is probably due to people just playing the deck they like playing. More time is needed to see if the OTA does what the developers intended. While we wait for the changes to solidify Arishem is still a decent portion of the meta game and one that you'll run into while playing especially because Arishem enjoyers will be trying to optimize and make him work even with the OTA change.
Arishem
Peni Parker/Midrange Good stuff
While Peni Parker is probably labeled as a Wiccan card by the vast majority of players in the week that she has been out because of her ability to make Wiccan more consistent she is also just a good stat package that adds flexibility to decks. While she is not exactly an archetype-defining card she has slotted herself into one of the most popular deck types currently in the meta game.
Parker 1
Parker 2
These are mainly stat decks that try to maximize the curve and put stats on the board. They win consistently because most of the cards are simple to use and put power down on the board. They are mostly proactive decks that want to keep priority and win the game with a juggernaut on the last turn or with a couple of tech cards for the combo matchups that they might run into. The Wiccan version is just like the other Wiccan decks really and can probably be in that category but it has less of a top end like the other builds so it is here. Hope Summers also acts like a Wiccan idea as well by providing extra energy to maximize the potential output of buff cards like Galacta and Gwenpool.
Move/Move Bounce
Some say that Move Bounce is currently the best deck but it is the most complicated deck to play so it has a lot less success than it should. While, I agree somewhat that this deck is good and difficult to pilot, ease of accomplishing a win is an important factor when playing a strategy game. However, Move Bounce definitely can compete with any deck in the format currently and produces some of the highest stats in the game.
Move Bounce
Similar but not the same is Stock Move which also produces a lot of good stats and competes in the meta game.
Move
Regular Bounce
Just like Move Bounce, regular Bounce is well positioned as a deck that can outpower the Wiccan and midrange-style decks in the format. However, both have a big enemy in Shadow King.
Bounce
Scream
Scream decks are not new to the meta game and they always show success but can sometimes be awkward to pilot if the cards don’t get drawn in the right order. Either way, they have good stats overall and play well against the many different Wiccan decks.
Scream 1
Scream 2
Mister Negative
Another deck that just goes over the top of the majority of decks is Mister Negative. While these decks are not new to the game they are typically high cube decks that don’t always have the best win rate. Either way, Mister Negative since the OTA has one the highest cube rates in the game. A lot of decks are not running good tech options and with the slight nerf to Alioth there is a lot less that can combat Mister Negative especially when they get nut draws.
Negative 1
Negative 2
Mister Negative has always been an interesting choice because it looks like it would just get players 2 cubes most of the time. But, a lot of players stay more often than not so my suggestion is unless you know for certain you are going to win because you have Alioth or you can shut off Limbo with Legion leaving for 1 cube is probably the best bet. Staying because you are hoping they don’t have a negative Iron Man or Gorr is not a sound strategy.
Meta Cards
If you don’t have Wiccan, it might be a good idea to pick him up because he is vastly becoming a meta staple that opens up a range of decks to play. However, his play patterns are fairly obvious and straight forward so countering and understanding what the deck is trying to do gives him a slight handicap. Either way, he is currently boasting a 20% play rate and more often than not you'll see a Quicksilver on turn one which is screaming that you are up against a Wiccan deck.
While not the most prolific card in the current meta game. Hydra Bob has made a name for himself as an easy 1-cost inclusion in most decks. Having a premium stat line for the cost and with very little drawback makes him feel over-tuned to some and an auto-include for many. Especially with cards like Galacta running around that make him an easy 8 power, it is easy to see why his popularity has grown over the last few weeks even more than it already was. If you don’t have him there are easy replacements but he might be worth looking at picking up sooner rather than later. Also, Hydra Bob has a way of gaining you more cubes because he begs for you to snap and move him to different locations as well as prompting your opponent to do the same.
Meta Health
The Meta is currently wide open. There is not one best deck and there are many viable options even ones that are not listed above. The lists above are just what you will see more often than not when playing the ladder. I have personally been having some success with Clog in this meta but that is also one of my main archetypes so that might not work for everyone.
Hela and Surtur are still good decks as well as Surfer even though I didn’t mention them above. Either way, there are a ton of viable options so I'd pick one and just go for it. However, I do think this will change starting tomorrow with the release of Doom 2099 so just be aware if sitting down for a long play session. What do you think of the current set of the Meta?